


You're beautiful.

by sunnflowers



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Body Dysphoria, Body Image, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2017-02-03
Packaged: 2018-07-18 02:07:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7295227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunnflowers/pseuds/sunnflowers





	1. Chapter 1

Jasper stared at the ceiling, deep in thought until Sugilite crawled into bed beside her. She looked over as the smaller woman stared at her. “Jasper? What’s going on in your head?” Sugilite asked. Jasper didn’t want to tell her girlfriend what she was thinking about. She didn’t want to bring it up again, but it was once again eating away at her. 

“Just … just thinking babe,” Jasper replied reaching over and putting her arm around Sugilite. Her girlfriend was taller than she was but was a significantly smaller build. Her frame was thin, though her thighs, stomach, and chest were not. Jasper ran her hand over Sugilite’s stomach.

“Stop,” Sugilite said in a whine. “Jasp, you know I hate it when you poke at my fat.” Jasper left her hand against her girlfriend’s skin but didn’t move it anymore. She wondered to herself why Sugilite was so self-conscious. Then she returned to her thoughts about her own body. 

Jasper was quite tall, but still slightly shorter than Sugilite. She was perfectly toned thanks to her propensity towards being a gym rat and couldn’t complain about her weight or body shape. But she still felt deep shame about her appearance and never believed she could be considered pretty. Jasper had a pigment disorder that prevented her body from properly making pigment in her cells, leaving her with white hair and various patches of light skin on her naturally dark body. She particularly despised the stripe that fell across her face. 

“I wasn’t,” Jasper said very quietly. So quietly, Sugilite had to ask her to repeat herself. “I wasn’t,” Jasper said again. “You know, poking at your fat. I was just … running my hand over your stomach.” She turned to face Sugilite. “I like how your skin feels under my hands. I like touching you.” Jasper leaned in and kissed Sugilite gently. “I think you’re beautiful Sug.” Sugilite’s face turned red as Jasper knelt over her girlfriend. 

“Thanks baby,” Sugilite replied, but Jasper knew Sugilite didn’t take the comment to heart. Jasper sat back and pulled off her shirt, leaving her in a pair of red boyshorts only. She pulled Sugilite to a seated position and removed her tanktop as well. Sugilite sat in her underwear and looked at Jasper, wondering what her girlfriend was doing. But before she could ask, Jasper kissed her again. 

“Sugi, why do you have such a problem with your stomach?” Jasper leaned forward and planted a handful of kisses on her mate’s stomach. Sugilite giggled but pushed Jasper away. 

“I dunno,” Sugilite said shyly. “I just … I want it to be flat, like yours.” She ran her hand over her girlfriend’s abdominal muscles. “That’s what it’s supposed to look like.” Jasper leaned in to kiss Sugilite again. 

“But I like you the way you are,” She whispered gently, snaking her arms around Sugilite. “Your stomach isn’t flat, and that’s just how it is. It’s just how you are.” She smiled at her girlfriend. “It has no influence on how beautiful you are or how much I love you. It’s just the shape your body is.” Sugilite rested her head on Jasper’s shoulder as tears rolled down her cheek. “There isn’t one shape that’s better than another. It’s like being unhappy bananas aren’t apple shaped. You’re beautiful, Sugi.” 

“You don’t believe that,” Sugilite said after wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands. She looked into Jasper’s eyes and laced her fingers into her girlfriend’s thick hair. “Because if you truly believed all that, you wouldn’t constantly worry about …” Sugilite stopped as her girlfriend pulled away from her. Jasper knew what Sugilite was going to say. 

“I do believe it Sug.” Jasper looked down at the bed as she spoke. “You are beautiful, your body is beautiful, and the shape of it doesn’t make it any less beautiful. I just …” Jasper’s eyes lifted for a fleeting moment, catching Sugilite’s. “I just don’t believe mine is, babe.” Sugilite ran her thumb over Jasper’s cheek.

“But, you’re gorgeous Jasp.” She traced her fingers over the light stripe of skin across Jasper’s chest. “You could dye your hair, you could wear makeup, but you don’t. And you shouldn’t ever feel you have to. You are perfect the way you are.” Sugilite kissed her mate again softly. “It’s like being upset a tiger doesn’t pattern like a lion.” Jasper gave an empty laugh. She should have expected Sugilite to use that against her. Without much warning, Sugilite pulled the sheets to the side of the bed and untangled herself from Jasper.

“I’ll be right back,” she said before heading to a corner of their bedroom. Jasper sprawled out on the bed, resting her arm over her eyes. Sugilite wasn’t wrong. If she believed her girlfriend was beautiful despite some non-perfect parts, Jasper should be able to believe she is beautiful as well. But she was never able to transfer the idea to herself. Sure, Sugilite did not have the socially ideal body. She looked more like an overweight dancer. She somehow managed to come across as thin and overweight at the same time, but that was the beauty of it. Her soft curves, her strong muscles, her stomach, her hips, Jasper was happy memorizing every beautiful part of Sugilite. With that, Jasper heard a faint clicking noise. 

“Why?” Jasper whined as she removed her arm from her eyes and saw Sugilite with her digital camera. 

“Because you’re beautiful and you’re my favorite muse, now hush.” Sugilite was an amateur in pretty much any art you could think of, and she especially enjoyed photography. Jasper usually didn’t have a problem with Sugilite taking pictures of her, but she was usually fully clothed. Jasper sat up for a moment to look at her girlfriend, but her glare didn’t stop the clicking of the camera. After a few moments, Sugilite stopped and left to retrieve her laptop from the living room. 

Sugilite sat back down on the corner of the bed, plugging her camera into her laptop. After uploading the pictures, she returned her camera to its case and sat back down next to Jasper. 

“Look at this one?” Sugilite asked gently. Jasper moved closer to her girlfriend, wrapping her arms around her and leaning her head on her shoulder. “You are gorgeous.” Jasper stared at the computer screen. It was a black and white image that had been edited to look like a charcoal drawing. A tall, muscular body was stretched across a bed, back slightly arched and an arm across their face. The effects prevented the image from being identifiable as Jasper, especially with her arm stretched over her face. Jasper just continued to stare at the image, it was amazing. 

“This image is beautiful Jasp. And this is an image of you,” Sugilite said softly. She placed the laptop down on the side table and looked back at Jasper. “You’re beautiful.” Jasper smiled and pulled Sugilite down onto the bed with her. She sleepily wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and kissed her head. 

“And so are you,” She said as she fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Pearl pushed the apartment door open and was immediately assaulted by the loud sound of Latin music. It was clear that Amethyst was home, but Pearl was unsure what her girlfriend could possibly be doing. She put her bag down and wandered to the kitchen, where she believed the source of the music was. 

Pearl stood in the doorway and watched as Amethyst danced around the kitchen. Pearl had always marveled at the way Amethyst was able to move her body. Her hips swayed perfectly while her shoulders and arms alternated directions, all while she somehow made what Pearl guessed was ‘breakfast’ even though it was mid-afternoon. It was a sight, and Pearl just watched as she leaned against the wall. 

“Ah! Pearl!” Amethyst caught her out of the corner of her eye and almost dropped the bowl. “Don’t sneak up on me like that! How long have ya been there?” Pearl smiled as she moved to the kitchen table. 

“Not long, I just got home. What are you making?” Amethyst had turned back towards the counter, her face flushed at the thought of Pearl seeing her like this.

“Uhmm, you know, just breakfast. Eggs and stuff.” She placed the bowl back onto the counter and reached over to turn off the music. 

“You could have left that on,” Pearl said. “It wasn’t bothering me.” Amethyst didn’t turn around, instead focusing on pouring the eggs into the skillet. “And I was enjoying your dancing.” Amethyst froze as she was putting the bowl into the sink.

“Come on P, don’t make fun of me.” Pearl looked up, confused. Amethyst had moved back to the stove refusing to let Pearl see her deep blush. 

“I wasn’t,” Pearl said with surprise. Amethyst finished making breakfast in silence, offering Pearl a plate once she began to serve herself. Pearl watched as Amethyst poked at her food, her eyes focused towards the table. “Am, what’s wrong? You aren’t eating, you aren’t talking …” Amethyst continued to look down into her plate. “Did … did I do something?” 

Amethyst looked up startled by Pearl’s comment. “No! No, you,” Amethyst sighed deeply. “You didn’t do anything. I just don’t normally dance like that in front of anyone. I … I don’t like people seeing me like that.” Pearl tilted her head slightly as she tried to comprehend what Amethyst was saying. 

“But, I love watching you dance. Why don’t you want anyone to see you?” Amethyst looked back down into her plate. 

“Because I’m too fat to dance,” Amethyst said softly. 

“Do you really believe that?” Pearl asked, shocked that her girlfriend felt that way. “You … You’re a great dancer. You always look so graceful and coordinated. You’re beautiful Amethyst.” Amethyst blushed as she looked away. 

“You don’t really mean that,” Amethyst said quietly. “Dancers are thin, they’re … they’re tall with lean beautiful muscles. They bend and stretch like you do at your barre. I don’t look like that, P. I’m just a short, chubby girl.” Pearl stood up and pulled Amethyst from her chair. Lacing her fingers through Amethyst’s, Pearl looked into the shorter woman’s eyes. 

“No, you don’t look like that, but that isn’t the only way to be beautiful.” She kissed Amethyst’s cheek before turning the radio back on. “There are so many different types of dance! I do really adore ballet, but it isn’t the only type. There’s ballroom, samba, freestyle, hip hop …” Pearl trailed off as she found the station she was looking for. It was playing a pop song and Pearl turned up the volume slightly. “And there are so many cultural dance styles that I don’t even know!” She grabbed Amethyst’s hand and spun her before she began to dance. Amethyst giggled but joined her girlfriend. 

“Since when do you dance to club music?” Amethyst asked mid laugh. 

“I dance to whatever I want to dance to,” Pearl replied. “I mean, this isn’t my favorite type of music, or my favorite style of dance, but it’s still fun.” She pulled Amethyst close and kissed her deeply. “And just because you don’t look like a ballerina, doesn’t make you any less beautiful … when you dance or otherwise.” Amethyst smiled at Pearl, grateful for the reassurance. She adjusted the radio back to the Latin music station. 

“Come here,” Amethyst said with a grin. “Let me teach you something.”


End file.
